EU Article: EU Software Patents Directive Delayed

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [Fsfe-ie] News article EU software patents directive
delayed
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 12:21:39 +0100
From: "Teresa Hackett" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>

Forwarded from edri list.

Teresa
----------------------------

EU software patents directive delayed
http://europa.eu.int/ida/en/document/3378/194

eGovernment News – 11 October 2004 – EU and Europe-wide –
Software/Legal aspects

The formal approval of the draft Directive on the patentability
of computer-implemented inventions by the EU Competitiveness
Council has been postponed due to translation delays.

The political agreement between Member States over the draft
Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions
was expected to be approved during the EU's Competitiveness
Council meeting held on 24/09/2004, before being sent back to the
European Parliament for a second reading. However, the item was
removed from the Council’s agenda due to delays in translation.

The text agreed upon by Member States on 18 May 2004 will now
only be approved at the earliest in November. This new delay
means that the European Parliament will only start working on its
response to the Council by the end of 2004 or even at the
beginning of 2005. On 6/10/2004, the Parliament's Internal Market
Committee selected former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard to
draw up its response.

Unsurprisingly, the appointment of Mr Rocard – an outspoken
adversary of software patents – was welcomed by opponents of the
proposed directive and criticised by its supporters. "That Michel
Rocard is taking over the dossier reflects the fact that the
wider economic, infrastructural and social implications for
Europe are now seen more clearly. Also, in the Council a learning
process has begun, and it will be supported by the Parliament's
move", Mr Holger Blasum of the Foundation for a Free Information
Infrastructure told journalists. On the oher hand, Francisco
Mingorance of the Business Software Alliancepointed out that Mr
Rocard hasn't shown any sympathy to the directive in the past.
"We can only hope he will be sufficiently open to the view of
persons and groups which have a different opinion", he said.

Meanwhile, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, MEP and co-president of the
Greens/EFA Group, speculated that the proposed directive would be
referred back to Coreper, the Committee for EU Permanent
Representatives, which would allow Member States to resume
technical discussions and, perhaps, reconsider the directive.

The draft Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented
Inventions seeks to harmonise Europe's rules in the field of
intellectual property regimes for computer programmes, with a
view to create a secure and coherent environment favourable to
research and development. The European Parliament approved the
draft on 24/09/2003, but only after introducing a number of
amendments reducing the scope of patent protection far more than
what was planned in the original text proposed by the European
Commission and than what most European governments would like.
However, the draft text agreed upon by the Council on 18 May
2004, based on a compromise presented by the Irish Presidency and
supported by the European Commission, removes most of the
amendments voted by the European Parliament and lifts most
restrictions to the direct patentability of computer programs,
data structures and process descriptions.

© European Communities 2004

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
The views expressed are not an official position of the European
Commission.
Disclaimer


http://europa.eu.int/ida/en/document/3378/194

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